Page:In Korea with Marquis Ito (1908).djvu/42

22 of view. But let us—laying aside prejudice—glance at the externals of the capital city of Korea, as they appeared during the months of April and May, 1907.

The word Seoul, coined by the Shilla Kingdom in South-eastern Korea and originally pronounced So-ra-pul, means "national capital"; and Hanyang ("Sun of the Han"), the real name of the present capital, is only one of a succession of "Seouls", of which S Song-do and Pyeng-yang were the most notable. To the imagination of the ignorant populace of Korea, who can have no conception of what real civic beauty and decency are in these modern days, and who are accustomed to express themselves with Oriental hyperbole, Han-yang is the "Observation of all Nations," the King's city in the clouds," "a city that spirits regard and ghosts conceal"; and to be hailed as the "Coiled Dragon and the Crouching Tiger." When the town came down from the mountain retreat of Puk Han (to be described later) and spread over the plain in order to utilize the HAn River, it took the river's name; but it was only some five hundred and twenty years ago made "Seoul" by the founder of the present dynasty selecting it as his capital city.